A/HRC/15/29 (b) In France the State Medical Assistance (Aide Médicale de l’Etat) allows irregular migrants and their children, who have been residing in France for more than three months and whose income is below a certain threshold, to access publicly subsidized health care upon compliance with certain conditions; (c) There are explicit references to the right to education for irregular migrants in the legislation of Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, specific legislation regarding both primary and secondary school prohibits officials from investigating a child’s migration status before admission to school. C. Detention 82. Below are examples of recent practice on detention of migrant children: (a) In 2005, most children and their family members were released from Australian immigration detention centres and the Migration Act was amended to affirm “as a principle” that a minor should only be detained as a measure of last resort; (b) In May 2010, the new United Kingdom Government announced an end to the policy of detaining migrant and asylum-seeking children in detention centres; (c) Panama has included in its legislation a prohibition on detaining migrants who are less than 18 years of age; (d) The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has explicitly included several alternatives to detention in its migration legislation including periodic reporting, directed residence and provision of bail (which takes account of the economic condition of the migrant). D. National jurisprudence 83. The following show recent practice in national jurisprudence: (a) The Constitutional Court of Spain has upheld the right of the child to be heard in the context of unaccompanied children facing repatriation or deportation;70 (b) The High Court of South Africa (Transvaal Division) prevented the deportation in 2004 of a group of unaccompanied migrant children detained in a repatriation centre. The Court noted that the detention of such children was unlawful and should cease immediately, observing that “furthermore, the way in which these children are being deported is not unlawful, it is shameful”.71 E. Regional jurisprudence 84. Below are some examples of regional jurisprudence: (a) In FIDH v. France,72 the European Committee of Social Rights examined a complaint based on articles 13 (right to health care) and 17 (rights of the child) of the European Social Charter, and held that legislation or practice which denies entitlement to 70 71 72 20 Case No. 183/2008 of 22 December 2008. Case No. 22866/04 of 13 September 2004. Complaint No. 13/2003.

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents